Decongesting a Liveable Region Through Transit Investment

Decongesting a Liveable

Region Through Transit

Investment

Holly Foxcroft, Urban Planning Consultant

Presentation to GOV-OECD

July 3, 2014

An introduction

1997-2012Daily trips to/from campus increased 30% from 106,100 to 138,200

15% decrease

despite 51% student

population increase

297% increase from

19,000-75,600 transit

trips per day

More trips are made to and from UBC by transit than by all other modes combined.

Relevant projects

6 Years of Private and Public Sector Experience in: Analysis, Transportation and Land Use Planning,

Consulting, Negotiation, Strategic Directions, and Project Management

Two cities and a region

Vancouver

Surrey

Public Governance and Territorial Development

Directorate goal and presentation themes

Goal:

Support national and local administrations to design and implement evidence-based and innovative policies that will strengthen public governance, enable them to respond effectively to economic and social challenges, and deliver on commitments to citizens.

LIVEABILITY

GREEN CITY

GOVERNANCE

FINANCING

Liveability and the Green City

City of Vancouver

Liveability indexes

Economist Intelligence Unit:

Livability SurveyRank City Country

1 Melbourne Australia

2 Vienna Austria

3 Vancouver Canada

4 Toronto Canada

5 Adelaide Australia

6 Calgary Canada

7 Sydney Australia

8 Helsinki Finland

9 Perth Australia

10 Auckland New Zealand

Mercer Quality of Living Survey

Rank City Country

1 Vienna Austria

2 Zürich Switzerland

3 Auckland New Zealand

4 Munich Germany

5 Vancouver Canada

6 Düsseldorf Germany

7 Frankfurt Germany

8 Geneva Switzerland

9 Copenhagen Denmark

10 Bern Switzerland

Vancouver has ranked in the top 10 for the past 5 years in either or both surveys

Source: Economist Intelligence Unit, Mercer Quality of Living Survey

But why is Vancouver so liveable?

Vancouver

1 2

Source: Kyle Brownlow, City of Vancouver Archives, National Geographic, The Province, Metro Vancouver

3

4 5

Natural Constraints Large Redevelopment Opportunity in Downtown Core Culture of Green

Congestion: 1990s and 2014 Long-Range Planning

Transit expansion and densification

Source: City of Vancouver, Wikipedia

• Densest areas outside of the

downtown core are located

along the frequent transit

corridors

Vancouver the greenest city

Source: City of Vancouver

Congestion: TomTom Traffic Index 2014

Source: TomTom

1. Vancouver, Canada – 93 lost hours due to congestion

2. Los Angeles, USA – 92

3. San Francisco, USA

4. Honolulu, USA

5. Seattle, USA

6. San Jose, USA

7. Toronto, Canada

8. Washington, USA

9. New York, USA

10. Montreal, Canada

o Vancouver has not built a new highway

in 40 years

o Shifts to transit, walking, and cycling

have invariably freed up space on the

road, that over time has been filled by

the growing population

But Vancouver’s liveability is linked…

Vancouver has benefited from the foresight of

regional planners in the 1990s that sought to

diversify the economic centres in the region

Effective regional goods movement

Vancouver is a liveable city because many of

the negative externalities other municipalities in

the region (e.g. congestion, industrial lands,

etc.)

Source: Metro Vancouver

To Surrey’s liveability

Vancouver cannot accommodate the

anticipated population and employment

growth over the next thirty years

Vancouver is reliant on Surrey and other metro

areas to attract new residents and businesses

Source: City of Surrey

A brief comparison – Paris and her suburbs

1960s

• Paris built five suburban cities to

accommodate urban growth and provide

new amenities

• RER lines extended to banlieus

• Predominant vehicle and transit travel pattern is suburban urban

2014

• Paris has worst air pollution in Europe from

transportation sources

• No significant extension of transit in banlieus

since 1960s

• But intra-municipal travel between banlieus

becomes more common, but not transit

supportive so car dependence remainsThe lesson from Paris: To create a successful

region, multiple economic centres should be

encouraged with transit and transportation systems to disrupt the suburban urban travel

pattern.

20141960s

Source: RATP

Vancouver and Surrey

• Urban form developed in the era of the street car

• No new highway in last 40 years

• Housing no longer affordable, limited rental stock

• Urban form developed during the era of the car

• New highway 2013

• 1,200 new residents a month

• Affordable housing to buy and rent

2011-2041:Surrey’s population will

grow by 57% from 487,500

to 766,000

2011-2041:Vancouver’s population

will grow by 22% from

603,000 to 740,000

Surrey’s City Centre will become the region’s second downtown

Source: City of

Surrey, Metro

Vancouver

Housing affordability

Source: City of Surrey

• More affordable and

diverse housing stock:

• Detached, semi-

detached,

apartments

• Surrey is attracting more

young families: 46% of

their population is under

34

• Surrey has the largest

school district in the

province: 70 schools

Business incorporation and income

Source: Ministry of Finance prepared by BC Stats January 2012

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Surrey and Vancouver Business Incorporations: Indexed to 1998

Surrey Vancouver

o Average income in Vancouver is $8,000

higher than Surrey: $44,000 vs $36,000

o Surrey is the second largest job centre in

the region, behind Vancouver

International immigration

2012

Source: Metro Vancouver, BC Stats

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

Imm

igra

nts

Metro Vancouver: International Immigration

2000-2012

All Areas

China-Mainland

India

Surrey: 29% of residents’ mother

tongue is Punjabi, Chinese, Hindi, or

Tagalog

Surrey commuting shifts

• Surrey was once a commuting

City with the majority of daily

trips made to Vancouver

• 12% of trips made on transit,

higher than most other North

American cities

Source: Vancouver Sun

A tipping point

Surrey has ambitious plans to attract more economic

development to its communities, while retrofitting

them to become more transit supportive.

But to do so it needs more transit and

more rapid transit.

Source: City of Surrey

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026 2031 2036 2041 2046

Po

pu

latio

n

Investment in rapid transit has not kept pace

with population growth

• Since the last transit investment more than 200,000 people have moved to Surrey

• By 2016: 30 rapid transit stations on the Burrard Peninsula and only 4 rapid transit stations south of the Fraser

• Rapid transit networks:• N. of Fraser: 62.9• Surrey: 5.8 km• Edmonton: 21 km• Calgary : 56 km

Last

investment in

Surrey’s rapid

transit network

Source: Statistics Canada (1991, 1996, 2006, 2011) and Regional Growth Strategy, 2011, City of Surrey

Extended rapid transit will serve a catchment area of

500,000 people in the next 30 years

Source: TransLink

Surrey and Vancouver’s success is contingent on the

region

For Surrey, Vancouver, and the region to be successful

they must turn to their governance and financing

mechanisms.

Governance

Governance in Canadian municipalities

Federal

Provincial

Regional

Municipalities

• Minimal funding

programs

• Gas Tax, Building

Canada

• Regulate regional and

municipal governments

• Provide some funding for

capital projects

• Regional

resource

management:

water, waste,

forests, etc.

Metro Vancouver governance

o Composed of 21 municipalities,

one First Nation, and one

electoral area

o Municipalities maintain

independence, accountability

to voter base vs. amalgamated

municipalities

o Participate in and set regional

goals and targets that they

must adhere to

o Municipal policies must align

with regional policies

VANCOUVER

SURREY

Long-term regional planning

The LRSP started 18 years of regional land use and transportation planning amongst member

municipalities that refocused development patterns through regional targets.

1996 2013

Source: Metro Vancouver

Regional Growth Strategy

Goal 1: Create a compact urban area (e.g. 2/3 of all new growth will be directed to urban areas)

Goal 2: Support a sustainable economy

Goal 3: Protect the environment and respond to climate change impacts

Goal 4: Develop complete communities

Goal 5: Support sustainable transportation choices

Source: Metro Vancouver

Transit continues to be key to regional success

Among best in North

America

Smallest metro area

All others have heavy and

commuter rail

Third in per capita

ridership behind only New

York and Toronto

City Metro PopulationAnnual

Boardings(thousands)

Transit Trips/ Capita/Year

New York City 19,831,858 3,893,854 196/capita

Toronto 5,583,064 987,173 177/capita

Chicago 9,522,434 658,203 69/capita

Los Angeles 13,052,921 620,903 48/capita

San Francisco Bay

6,349,948 476,219 75/capita

Washington, DC 5,860,342 456,915 78/capita

Montreal 3,824,221 433,710 113/capita

Boston 4,640,802 399,594 86/capita

Metro Vancouver

2,313,328 363,163 157/capita

Philadelphia 6,018,800 336,981 56/capita

Source: American Public Transportation Association 2012 Q4 Ridership Report; City of Vancouver and City of Surrey

But changing regional preferences…

Declining

Car ownership

Drivers license holders

Vehicle kilometers travelled

Increasing

Desire to live near where people work or

go to school

Commutes by transit, walking, and

cycling

Commuting time for vehicles

Preference for access/proximity to rapid

transit by residents and developers

Source: Metro Vancouver, ICBC, TransLink

Drivers license holders

Are threatening the liveability of the region

In the next 30 years:

1 million more people

and 600,000 jobs in

Metro Vancouver

Source: TransLink

1. Growing Population 2. Growing Congestion 3. Growing Transit Funding Shortfall

700,000 cars = more congestion

2011 2041

People 2.3 M 3.4 M

Jobs 1.2 M 1.8 M

Are threatening the liveability of the region

4. Goods Movement

Heavily reliant on provincial

and major road

infrastructure

A 20% increase in trade with

Asia by 2030 may result in

thousands more trucks

moving throughout the

region

10% of vehicles on bridges

are moving goods

Source: TransLink

1. Growing regional population

Source: TransLink

Policy challenge: accommodating a 1 million more people and 600,000 new

jobs that utilize transit, walks, and bikes as their main form of transportation

5% 17% 13% 2%

3% Non-Auto Travel

2. Growing congestion

Annual cost of congestion in Metro Vancouver is $2 B CDN:

fuel, wasted time, and GHG emissions

Direct and indirect costs not included: air pollution, obesity,

stress, or diminishment of family time

700,000 more cars

by 2041 =

39% increase in rush

hour traffic by 2021

120% increase in

severely congested

roads

3 million more auto

trips per day

Governance challenge:

• Existing provincial tolling policy

is mismatched with regional

objectives

• Leads to underutilized toll

facilities and manufactured

congestion on mandated

“free” bridges

Source: Jonathan Arnold Congested and Nowhere to Go: Congestion, Road Infrastructure, and Road Pricing in Metro Vancouver

3. Growing transit funding shortfall

Financing and governance challenge: TransLink and Metro Vancouver do not have the agency to

create new revenue sources to fund transit, this lies with the provincial government. The province

has determined that the public must vote on the new funding mechanisms.

600 K gap is widening

Source: TransLink

4. Goods movement

21% of regional jobs are in trade, transportation and warehousing

2012: 3,000 vessels carrying 125 million tonnes of cargo

Asia Pacific Trade expected to increase from 10% of Canada’s total trade to more than

20% in 2030

Port Metro Vancouver is doubling the capacity of one of its terminals to 8 million TEUs per

year

Past 5 years – 10 trains per day, now 20 per day

Completion of project will result in 40 per day

Source: TransLink, Port Metro Vancouver

Governance challenge: To maintain the liveability of the region it must be able to continue to

economically prosper from goods movement, while not suffering from it

TransLink referendum: spring 2015

21 elected representatives negotiated over 6 months to develop a $7.5 B, 10 year plan for

regional transportation investment that includes:

New rapid transit, bus routes, and service hours

New bridge

Upgrades to the major road network

New cycling routes

The greatest outcome of the process was recognizing that the full cost of transportation must be priced

to create a long-term solution for regional liveability

They have shifted the regional public

dialogue from an either/or to an

everyone wins conversation}

New TransLink funding mechanisms

Short-term: Regional Carbon tax and Regional

Sales Tax

Greater financial equity, more resilient tax base

Long-term: Road Pricing

Users of road infrastructure pay for use

Source: CBC News, Rail for the Valley

TransLink and the region

Must look to the metro Vancouver population to support the regional goals, and increase in

taxes to sustain the liveability of the region in the 2015 referendum

Lessons learned from Metro Vancouver

1. Provide frequent, reliable transit where people work and live to foster modal shifts away from vehicle use reducing congestion and urban sprawl

2. Develop a transit supportive region through long-term regional agreement and planning that links transportation and land use decisions

3. Provide metro regions with the tools to diversify tax revenues

4. Foster the cooperation of neighbouring municipalities in decision making on infrastructure investment and growth management

5. Foster economic development in nodes within a regional area to create a more robust economic region

6. Recognize that some residents need to utilize vehicles as their primary mode of transportation, but manage how they use their car

Discussion Question

How do we leverage government interests for overlapping

objectives into integrated policy and planning?